Technetium nuclear properties

The coordination chemistry of rhenium is better known and easier to handle than that of technetium and, in view of their expected analogies, the former metal can be used for nonradioactive model studies for technetium. In addition, Re and Re display attractive properties (Section 1) for nuclear medicine. The biolocalizations of analogous Re and Tc compounds can also be similar. Hence, the Tc and the Re (or Re) radionuclides constitute a potential matched pair for diagnosis and therapy. ... 

Nuclear cardiology continues to be a major advance as a noninvasive testing method. Radionuclides with short half-lives, which can be used either alone or combined with other substances to form agents with particular properties, such as technetium-99m pyrophosphate, have expanded the role for nuclear imaging in cardiology. 

In 1965, Richards and his collaborators at Brookhaven National Laboratories (N.Y.) have introduced the Mo/ Tc generator for clinical application (Richards 1966). This radionuclide system made technetium-99m available for clinical research and has stimulated the development of the first labeled compounds, which had a considerable impact on radiochemistry and nuclear medicine (Andros et al. 1965 Harper et al. 1966 McAfee et al. 1964a, b Stern et al. 1965, 1966). In the years to follow, diagnostic nuclear medicine procedures based on " Tc pharmaceuticals increased to approximately 85%. The reasons for this rapid growth were the ideal nuclear properties of techne-tium-99m, its availability worldwide as a radionuclide generator system, and the development of new labeling techniques. 

The knowledge of the chemical properties of technetium has grown over the years, as indicated hy review articles and books (Dewanjee 1990 Lever 1995 Nowotnik 1994 Peacock 1966 Schwochau 1983 Steigman and Eckelman 1992). Of particular interest are the Proceedings of the International Symposium on Technetium in Chemistry and Nuclear Medicine, presenting new developments in complex chemistry of technetium and rhenium, with state-of-the-art lectures, listed at the end of this chapter under Further Reading . 

Technetium-99m ( Tc) is widely used in radiopharmaceutical preparations due to its excellent physical and chemical properties. In fact, more than 80% of all radiopharmaceuticals used in diagnostic nuclear medicine are based on this short-lived radionuclide, which is obtained by elution of a Mo/ Tc generator system that is available in any radiopharmacy and nuclear medicine facility. 

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